Coke oven corbel structures

ABSTRACT

Coke oven corbel structures include an assembly of multiple stacked tiers of refractory blocks defining a plurality of substantially vertically oriented central flues. A first tier of refractory blocks in the assembly includes a series of lower cradle blocks defining respective lower semi-circular surfaces extending from one end to another end of the corbel structure. A second tier of the refractory blocks in the assembly includes a series of upper crown blocks defining respective upper semi-circular surfaces extending from one end to another end of the corbel structure. At least one set of the upper crown blocks in the second tier of refractory blocks defines respective substantially vertical segments of the vertically oriented central flues of the corbel structure which is in fluid communication with a cylindrical channel of the corbel structure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims domestic priority benefits under35 USC §119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.62/131,936 filed on Mar. 12, 2015, and may be deemed to be related tocommonly owned copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/947,320filed on Nov. 20, 2015 and ______ filed concurrently herewith (Atty.Dkt. No. 6141-52), the entire content of each being expresslyincorporated hereinto by reference.

FIELD

The embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to coke ovens,especially corbel structures associated with coke ovens. In preferredembodiments, the corbel structures disclosed herein are formed of anassembly of monolithic refractory blocks.

BACKGROUND

Coke ovens traditionally comprise massive refractory brick structures inwhich there are batteries of adjacent parallel walls made up from alarge variety of differently shaped refractory bricks. The bricks mustbe able to withstand high temperatures and strong mechanical loading. Atthe same time, the interior of the walls contains flue ducts, burners,flue gas control passages and the like. The detailed design of the ovenis usually quite complicated in order to obtain the necessary heatdistribution within the oven and gas flows through the walls.

It follows from the above that coke ovens are relatively costlystructures and any downtime for servicing and repairs can represent asignificant economic loss for an operator.

Further, the production of ceramic bricks from which the walls are madeis relatively costly and there is accordingly a need to generally reducethe number of different types of bricks which are used in a wall. It isundesirable, however, to have a design concept which utilizes relativelylarge ceramic bricks in the construction. Excessively large brickscannot be handled without the use of specialized mechanical liftingdevices. Further, bricks having a dimension greater than 650 mm machinepressed to form a fused silica product are generally unavailable. Bricksgreater than this size can be hand cast but these are much moreexpensive. Large bricks can be machine pressed from conventional silica,but conventional silica bricks would have a very serious disadvantage inthat a wall made therefrom would need a heat-up time which is many timesgreater than that for fused silica bricks.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,066,236, 8,266,853 and 8,640,635 (the entire content ofeach such patent being expressly incorporated hereinto be reference)have proposed that relatively large-sized monolithic refractory blocksmay be assembled to form the corbel structures of coke ovens. Ingeneral, the assembly of such large-sized monolithic refractory blocksenables the coke ovens to be constructed and/or repaired with much lessproduction down time.

While such prior proposals for coke oven corbel structures aresatisfactory for their intended purpose, continual improvements aresought. It is towards providing such improvements that the embodimentsdisclosed herein are directed.

SUMMARY

The coke oven corbel structures of the embodiments disclosed hereininclude an assembly of multiple stacked tiers of refractory blocksdefining a plurality of substantially vertically oriented central flues.A first tier of refractory blocks in the assembly includes a series oflower cradle blocks defining respective lower semi-circular surfacesextending from one end to another end of the corbel structure. A secondtier of the refractory blocks in the assembly includes a series of uppercrown blocks defining respective upper semi-circular surfaces extendingfrom one end to another end of the corbel structure.

The second tier of refractory blocks is stacked on the first tier ofrefractory blocks so that the respective upper and lower semi-circularsurfaces of the upper crown blocks and lower cradle blocks thereofoppose one another to thereby define a cylindrical channel betweenopposed ends of the corbel structure. At least one set of the uppercrown blocks in the second tier of refractory blocks defines respectivesubstantially vertical segments of the vertically oriented central fluesof the corbel structure, a lower end of the substantially verticalsegments terminating at the upper semi-circular surface to thereby be influid communication with the cylindrical channel of the corbelstructure.

According to certain embodiments, upper and lower end blocks may beprovided at least at the one end of the corbel structure, wherein theupper and lower end blocks define opposed upper and lower rectangularU-shaped cradle surfaces. A transition gun block may thus be receivedwithin the U-shaped cradle surfaces of the upper and lower end blocks,in which case the transition gun block defines a gun block transitionchannel in fluid communication with the cylindrical channel defined bythe upper and lower cradle blocks. The transition gun block may be inthe form of a rectangular cuboid. Alternatively or additionally, thetransition gun block may include upper and lower gun block sectionsdefining opposed U-shaped surfaces to establish the gun block transitionchannel.

Some embodiments of the corbel structure may include at least a secondset of the upper crown blocks in the second tier of refractory blockswhich defines respective diagonally oriented lateral flue segments ofdiagonally oriented lateral flues of the corbel structure. If present,the first and second sets of the upper crown blocks are positionedalternately adjacent to one another.

A third tier of refractory blocks may be provided according to otherembodiments, whereby the refractory blocks of the third tier are stackedon the second tier of refractory blocks. If present, the third tier ofrefractory blocks may comprise a series of inverted T-shaped flueblocks. The inverted T-shaped flue blocks may be provided with upper andlower ledge surfaces. Lower spacer blocks having respective endssupported by the lower edges of the inverted T-shaped flue blocks maythus be provided in the third tier of refractory blocks.

Some embodiments will include at least one set of the inverted T-shapedblocks in the third tier of refractory blocks which defines respectivesubstantially vertical segments of the vertically oriented central fluesof the corbel structure. A lower end of the substantially verticalsegments may thus be aligned with an upper end of the substantiallyvertical segments of upper cradle blocks so as to be in fluidcommunication therewith. The substantially vertical segments of the atleast one series of inverted T-shaped blocks may be U-shaped. TheU-shaped substantially vertical segments according to such embodimentswould thereby have an open end closed by a vertical face of an adjacentone of the inverted T-shaped blocks.

According to other embodiments, at least a second set of the invertedT-shaped blocks in the third tier of refractory blocks definesrespective diagonally oriented lateral flue segments of diagonallyoriented lateral flues of the corbel structure.

Certain embodiments of the corbel structure will include a fourth tierof refractory blocks comprised of a series of elongate shoulder blockspositioned in an end-to-end manner on upper ledge surfaces of theinverted T-shaped blocks of the third tier. Upper spacer blocks may thusbe positioned adjacent to the shoulder blocks and stacked on the lowerspacer blocks.

According to some embodiments, a series of split cylindrical gun blocksmay be positioned in the cylindrical channel of the corbel structure.The cylindrical gun blocks may comprise upper and lower semi-cylindricalgun block sections. Some embodiments will include an aperture defined byat least some of the upper semi-cylindrical gun block sections which isin fluid communication with respective ones of the substantiallyvertical segments of the at least one set of the upper crown blocks.

These and other aspects and advantages of the present invention willbecome more clear after careful consideration is given to the followingdetailed description of the preferred exemplary embodiments thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The disclosed embodiments of the present invention will be better andmore completely understood by referring to the following detaileddescription of exemplary non-limiting illustrative embodiments inconjunction with the drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an exemplary corbel structure inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention supported on acoke oven pier;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing just the corbel structure depictedin FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the corbel structure shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a latitudinal cross-sectional elevational view of the corbelstructure shown in FIG. 2 as taken along lines 4-4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is side elevational view of the corbel structure depicted in FIG.2;

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of the corbel structure depicted inFIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the corbel structuredepicted in FIG. 2 as taken along line 7-7 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the corbel structure depicted in FIG. 2showing the individual tiers forming the same;

FIG. 9A is a perspective view of the first tier of blocks forming thecorbel structure depicted in FIG. 2;

FIG. 9B is a perspective view similar to FIG. 9A but showing thetransition gun block in an exploded position;

FIG. 10A is perspective a view of the second tier of blocks forming thecorbel structure depicted in FIG. 2;

FIG. 10B is a perspective view similar to FIG. 10A but showing thelateral front shelf blocks in an exploded position;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view partly exploded of the third tier ofblocks forming the corbel structure depicted in FIG. 2;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the fourth tier of blocks forming thecorbel structure depicted in FIG. 2;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a corbelstructure according to the invention;

FIG. 14 is a top plan view of the corbel structure depicted in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is an end elevational view of the corbel structure depicted inFIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the corbel structuredepicted in FIG. 13 as taken along line 17-17 in FIG. 15; and

FIG. 17 is an exploded view showing the tiers of blocks forming thecorbel structure depicted in FIG. 13.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Accompanying FIG. 1 shows an exemplary corbel structure 10 in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention supported on a pier Passociated with a coke oven battery. In this regard, it will beunderstood that a conventional coke oven battery will include a numberof spaced apart piers P, each supporting a corbel structure 10 anddefining therebetween regenerator regions provided with checker bricks(not shown). The corbel structures 10 in turn support the refractorywalls and floors of the individual coke ovens (not shown).

FIGS. 2-12 show in greater detail the components of the corbel structure10. In this regard it will be observed that the corbel structure 10 iscomprised of essentially four courses 100, 200, 300 and 400 assembledfrom especially configured refractory blocks (to be described in greaterdetail below) which are stacked one on top of another. The courses 100,200, 300 and 400 collectively define central substantially verticallyoriented flues 60 and lateral substantially diagonally oriented flues 72which communicate with corresponding flues within the walls of the cokeoven walls (not shown) to allow for the burning of air and gas thereinand the transport of heated waste gas to and from the regeneratorregions.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are perspective assembled views of the interconnectedrefractory blocks forming the first tier 100 of the corbel structure 10,with FIG. 9B showing the transition gun block in an exploded position ascompared to FIG. 9A. As shown, the first tier 100 of the corbelstructure 10 is provided with an interconnected series of cradle blocks102 each defining a semi-cylindrical surface 104 extendinglongitudinally between the front and rear faces of each block. When aseries of the cradle blocks 102 are aligned within one another, thesemi-cylindrical surface 104 will therefore define a longitudinalU-shaped channel extending in a lengthwise direction of the corbelstructure 10.

An end block 106 is provided adjacent to a front face of the end-mostone of the cradle blocks 102. The end block 106 defines a rectangularU-shaped cradle 106 a for supporting a rectangular cuboid transition gunblock 108 comprised of upper and lower gun block sections 108 a, 108 b.The gun block sections 108 a, 108 b define respective opposedsemi-cylindrical surfaces which collectively establish a cylindricalchannel 108 c coaxially aligned with the U-shaped channel formed by thesemi-cylindrical surfaces 104 of the cradle blocks 102.

The second tier 200 of blocks comprising the corbel structure 10 isshown in FIGS. 10A and 10B. As depicted, the second tier 200 iscomprised of an alternating series of lateral flue crown blocks 202 andcentral flue crown blocks 204, the former defining a section of thediagonally oriented flues 72 and the latter defining a section of thesubstantially vertically oriented flues 60. More specifically, thecentral flue blocks 204 define a substantially vertically orientedrectangular segment of the flue 60, whereas the lateral flue crownblocks 202 define a diagonally oriented U-shaped channel which is closedby a vertical face of an adjacent one of the blocks 204. The centralflue blocks 204 may include a static gas nozzle 207 positioned in thesegment of the flue 60 so as to control the flow of gas thereinto.

An end block 206 is provided adjacent to a front face of the end-mostone of the crown blocks 202. The end block 206 is provided with aninverted rectangular U-shaped cradle surface 206 a to receive the uppergun block section 108 a of the transition gun block 108. In addition,the end block 206 includes oppositely oriented mounting tongues 206 b soas to mate with corresponding channel surfaces 208 a associated with thewing blocks 208. In this regard, it will be observed that the lateralwing blocks 208 are each horizontally split to form upper and lower wingblock segments 208 b, 208 c, the latter having a U-shaped channel 208 dwhich is closed by an opposed face of the upper wing block segment 208b.

The third tier 300 of blocks forming the corbel structure 10 is depictedin FIG. 11. As shown the third tier 300 is comprised of an alternatingseries of inverted T-shaped lateral flue blocks 302 and invertedT-shaped central flue blocks 304, the former defining a section of thesubstantially vertically oriented flues 60 and the latter defining asection of the diagonally oriented flues 72. Lower spacer blocks 306abut laterally against the side edges of the blocks 302, 304 and aresupported by the upper lateral surfaces of the crown blocks 202, 204 ofthe subjacent second tier 200 of blocks. The blocks 302, 304respectively define lower ledges 302 a, 304 a which are coplanar withthe top surface of the lower spacer blocks 306. The upper spacer blocks308 are thus supported by the lower spacer blocks 306 and have endportions which are received on the respective lower ledges 302 a, 304 a.

An inverted T-shaped end block 306 is provided adjacent to a front faceof the end-most one of the blocks 304. The end block 306 defines a ledge306 a which is coplanar with the ledges 302 a, 304 a of the blocks 302,304, respectively.

The fourth tier 400 of blocks forming the corbel structure 10 isdepicted in FIG. 12. The fourth tier 400 includes a series of elongateshoulder blocks 402 positioned in an end-to-end manner on the upperledge surfaces 302 b, 304 b of the blocks 302, 304, respectively, of thethird tier 300 (see FIG. 11). A T-shaped end block 406 is positioned onthe top surface of the end block 306 of the third tier 300. Spacerblocks 406 are laid onto the spacer blocks 308 of the third tier 300 inan abutting manner to the lateral surface of the blocks 402.

Another embodiment of a corbel structure 500 is shown in FIGS. 13-17. Asis shown, the corbel structure 500 includes three tiers 600, 700 and 800of blocks to be described in greater detail below. The courses 600, 700,and 800 collectively define central substantially vertically orientedflues 160 and lateral substantially diagonally oriented flues 172 whichcommunicate with corresponding flues within the walls of the coke ovenwalls (not shown) to allow for the burning of air and gas therein andthe transport of heated waste gas to and from the regenerator regions.

As is perhaps better shown in FIG. 17, the first tier 600 of the corbelstructure 500 is provided with an interconnected series of cradle blocks602 that are somewhat similar to the cradle blocks 102 of the corbelstructure 10 as previously described. Each of the cradle blocks 602defines a semi-cylindrical surface 604 extending longitudinally betweenthe front and rear faces of each block. When a series of the cradleblocks 602 are aligned within one another, therefore, thesemi-cylindrical surfaces 604 will therefore define a longitudinalU-shaped channel extending in a lengthwise direction of the corbelstructure 500.

A series of split cylindrical gun blocks 606 comprised of an uppersemi-cylindrical gun block 606 a and a lower semi-cylindrical gun block606 b are positioned end-to-end relative to one another so that thelower semi-cylindrical gun blocks 606 b are received by a respectivesemi-cylindrical surface 604 of the cradle blocks 602. At least some ofthe upper semi-cylindrical gun blocks 606 a include apertures 606 cwhich fluid-communicate with the substantially vertically oriented flues160. Therefore, when assembled in an end-to-end manner, the splitcylindrical gun blocks 606 will establish an elongate cylindricalpassageway 607 which extends longitudinally through the corbel structure500.

The second tier 700 is comprised of a series of an alternating series oflateral flue crown blocks 702 and central flue crown blocks 704, theformer defining a section of the diagonally oriented flues 172, and thelatter defining a section of the substantially vertically oriented flues160. More specifically, the central flue crown blocks 704 define asubstantially vertically oriented rectangular segment of the flue 160,whereas the lateral flue crown blocks 702 define a diagonally orientedU-shaped channel which is closed by a vertical face of an adjacent oneof the blocks 204 (see FIG. 17). The segments of the flue 160 defined bythe crown blocks 704 are aligned with respective apertures 606 c formedin the upper semi-cylindrical gun blocks 606 a. Non-apertured fillerblocks 706 may be provided as needed (i.e., where it is not required toprovide a section of the flues 160 and/or 172).

The crown blocks 702, 704 collectively define a semi-cylindrical surface708 which conformably mates with the semi-cylindrical gun blocks 606 a.The gun blocks 606 are thereby positionally captured between the crownblocks 702, 704 on the one hand and the cradle blocks 602 on the otherhand. The crown blocks 704 may include a static gas nozzle 807positioned in the segment of the flue 160 so as to control the flow ofgas thereinto.

The third tier 800 is comprised of an alternating series of invertedT-shaped lateral flue cap blocks 802 and inverted T-shaped central fluecap blocks 804, the former defining a section of the substantiallyvertically oriented flues 160 and the latter defining a section of thediagonally oriented flues 172. Lower spacer blocks 806 abut laterallyagainst the side edges of the blocks 802, 804 and are supported by theupper lateral surfaces of the blocks 702, 704 of the subjacent secondtier 700 of blocks. The blocks 802, 804 respectively define lower ledges802 a, 804 a which are coplanar with the top surface of the lower spacerblocks 806. The upper spacer blocks 808 (see FIGS. 13-15) are thussupported by the lower spacer blocks 806 and have respective endportions which are received on the lower ledges 802 a, 804 a. Similarlyconfigured non-apertured filler blocks 810 may be provided as needed(i.e., where a segment of the flues 160, 172 is not required).

A series of elongate shoulder blocks 812 is positioned in an end-to-endmanner on the upper ledge surfaces 802 b, 804 b of the blocks 302, 304,respectively, of the third tier 300 (see FIG. 11). Spacer blocks 814 arelaid onto the spacer blocks 808 in an abutting manner to the lateralsurface of the blocks 812.

The various blocks as described above which comprise the corbelstructures 10 and 500 are preferably provided with interlocking tongueand groove structures such as described in U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/082,922.

It will be understood that the description provided herein is presentlyconsidered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments of theinvention. Thus, the invention is not to be limited to the disclosedembodiments, but on the contrary, is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit andscope thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A corbel structure for a coke over comprising: an assembly of multiple stacked tiers of refractory blocks defining a plurality of substantially vertically oriented central flues, wherein a first tier of refractory blocks in the assembly includes a series of lower cradle blocks defining respective lower semi-circular surfaces extending from one end to another end of the corbel structure, and wherein a second tier of the refractory blocks in the assembly includes a series of upper crown blocks defining respective upper semi-circular surfaces extending from one end to another end of the corbel structure, and wherein the second tier of refractory blocks is stacked on the first tier of refractory blocks so that the respective upper and lower semi-circular surfaces of the upper crown blocks and lower cradle blocks thereof oppose one another to thereby define a cylindrical channel between opposed ends of the corbel structure, and wherein at least one set of the upper crown blocks in the second tier of refractory blocks defines respective substantially vertical segments of the vertically oriented central flues of the corbel structure, a lower end of the substantially vertical segments terminating at the upper semi-circular surface to thereby be in fluid communication with the cylindrical channel of the corbel structure.
 2. The corbel structure according to claim 1, further comprising upper and lower end blocks at least at the one end of the corbel structure, wherein the upper and lower end blocks define opposed upper and lower rectangular U-shaped cradle surfaces.
 3. The corbel structure according to claim 2, further comprising a transition gun block received within the U-shaped cradle surfaces of the upper and lower end blocks, wherein the transition gun block defines a gun block transition channel in fluid communication with the cylindrical channel defined by the upper and lower cradle blocks.
 4. The corbel structure according to claim 3, wherein the transition gun block is a rectangular cuboid.
 5. The corbel structure according to claim 3, wherein the transition gun block includes upper and lower gun block sections defining opposed U-shaped surfaces to establish the gun block transition channel.
 6. The corbel structure according to claim 1, wherein at least a second set of the upper crown blocks in the second tier of refractory blocks defines respective diagonally oriented lateral flue segments of diagonally oriented lateral flues of the corbel structure.
 7. The corbel structure according to claim 6, wherein the first and second sets of the upper crown blocks are positioned alternately adjacent to one another.
 8. The corbel structure according to claim 1, further comprising a third tier of refractory blocks stacked on the second tier of refractory blocks, wherein the third tier of refractory blocks comprises a series of inverted T-shaped flue blocks.
 9. The corbel structure according to claim 8, wherein the inverted T-shaped flue blocks include upper and lower ledge surfaces.
 10. The corbel structure according to claim 9, further comprising lower spacer blocks having respective ends supported by the lower edges of the inverted T-shaped flue blocks.
 11. The corbel structure according to claim 8, wherein at least one set of the inverted T-shaped blocks in the third tier of refractory blocks defines respective substantially vertical segments of the vertically oriented central flues of the corbel structure, a lower end of the substantially vertical segments being aligned with an upper end of the substantially vertical segments of upper cradle blocks so as to be in fluid communication therewith.
 12. The corbel structure according to claim 11, wherein the substantially vertical segments of the at least one series of inverted T-shaped blocks is U-shaped having an open end closed by a vertical face of an adjacent one of the inverted T-shaped blocks.
 13. The corbel structure according to claim at least a second set of the inverted T-shaped blocks in the third tier of refractory blocks defines respective diagonally oriented lateral flue segments of diagonally oriented lateral flues of the corbel structure.
 14. The corbel structure according to claim 10, further comprising a fourth tier of refractory blocks comprised of a series of elongate shoulder blocks positioned in an end-to-end manner on the upper ledge surfaces of the inverted T-shaped blocks.
 15. The corbel structure according to claim 14, comprising upper spacer blocks positioned adjacent to the shoulder blocks and stacked on the lower spacer blocks.
 16. The corbel structure according to claim 1, further comprising a series of split cylindrical gun blocks positioned in the cylindrical channel of the corbel structure.
 17. The corbel structure according to claim 16, wherein the cylindrical gun blocks comprising upper and lower semi-cylindrical gun block sections, wherein at least some of the upper semi-cylindrical gun block sections define an aperture in fluid communication with respective ones of the substantially vertical segments of the at least one set of the upper crown blocks. 